Assistant Coach

Lakewood vs. Comton, Homecoming 10/20/17

Lakewood vs Mayfair 9/8/17

Football

2017 Schedule

News

A historic night for Lakewood High running back Sebastian Kronberger helped the Lancers celebrate their 60th homecoming with a 42-6 Moore League win over Compton on Friday. The junior broke the school record with 338 yards rushing on 29 carries. Kronberger broke the record of 315 yards on his fifth and final touchdown run of the night.

“The record is really important to me,” Kronberger said. “When I first got to Lakewood, everyone was talking about this record. I was like, ‘315? I can beat that!’ So every game I think about wanting to beat that record.”

The hard-running Kronberger has only played six games this season, but he leads the league with 1,202 yards rushing. He also has 17 touchdowns.

“He plays like he loves the game of football,” Lakewood coach Mike Christensen said. “He runs like you’re supposed to run. He loves football, and it shows. He plays like he loves football. Our challenge is finding more kids like that. And hopefully kids like him gravitate to him.”

Lakewood (2-6, 2-2) also had its best defensive performance of the season. Compton (4-4, 1-3) came into the night averaging 285 yards per game but only gained 110 yards on 47 carries against the Lancers. The Lakewood defense came up with three turnovers, five sacks and 11 tackles for loss. The Lancers were giving up and average of 28 points per game before Friday.

“It feels good just to win a game,” Christensen said. “We’ve had a long year.”

Lakewood opened the scoring on its opening drive when Kronberger ran in his first touchdown of the night from 4-yards out. Compton running back Terrance Pratt fumbled on the fifth offensive play for the Tarbabes. Lakewood sophomore James Voorhies scooped up the turnover in traffic and returned it 25 yards for a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the game.

Kronberger ran the ball on five of the next seven Lakewood plays, and scored his second touchdown from 14 yards out on third down. After a Compton drive stalled in Lancer territory, Kronberger scored on a 70-yard touchdown run.

After the teams traded turnovers at the end of the first half, Compton quarterback Mekhi Schrader found senior Christian Swint for a 25-yard touchdown with nine seconds on the clock. Schrader had a season-high 114 yards passing, completing 9 of his 17 attempts. Swint, who was returning from injury, gained 68 yards on 20 carries. The senior was averaging more than 12 yards per carry coming into the game.

The score stayed 28-6 until the fourth quarter when Kronberger’s 40-yard run down the sideline but Lakewood into scoring position. Five plays later, he scored his fourth touchdown from 9-yards out.

“Yeah, it’s very hard to not just watch him run,” Lakewood junior offensive tackle Faio Tautai said. “The things he does are amazing. I just have to get in front of him and he makes the play. I try to catch up to him blocking, but I can’t most of the time.”

Knowing he needed about 20 more yards to break the record, Kronberger gained 50 yards on his last four carries of the night.

“I’m really proud of my offensive line because they’ve really come together,” Kronberger said. “They were a little sluggish at the beginning of the season, but after a while they’ve realized losing isn’t the way.”

Kronberger added that he felt all week like he would have a big night against Compton.

“I always feel like I’m going to do something before the game, to be honest. That’s my mentality,” he said. “It felt good to come out here and win something and get a big crowd feeling good. I hope it’s going to feel really good at school on Monday.”

The loss eliminates Compton from the league playoff race. Lakewood is still technically alive to extend its 15-year postseason streak, but the Lancers will have to beat first-place Poly next week.

“I can’t wait to play Poly,” Kronberger said. “Everyone wants to talk about Poly, but I don’t think they’re as good as they say they are. I want to play hard and beat them. I want to be the team that knocks them out like they’ve been doing to everyone else.”